The 117,206 members of Israel's Labor Party started electing their new leader on Tuesday, replacing Ehud Barak, who resigned following his crushing defeat by Ariel Sharon in the February 6 prime ministerial election, said reports.
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer, 65, and Parliament Speaker Avraham Burg, 46, have emerged as the main candidates for the top post, which has been unofficially occupied by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres since Barak's defeat.
Both have expressed confidence they will win after the polls close at 10:00pm, said the Jerusalem Post.
Burg and Ben-Eliezer spent Monday meeting with their campaign staffs to plan strategies to bring as many voters to the polls as possible.
Each accused the other of foul play, and Burg's campaign filed a complaint against Ben Eliezer, alleging campaign violations, said the paper.
Ben Eliezer released the results of a Teleseker poll his campaign commissioned that he said shows him leading Burg for the first time.
The Teleseker poll of 452 party members found that among those who intend to vote, 38.1 percent said they would support Ben Eliezer, while 36.2 percent favored Burg.
The rest were undecided or refused to answer. The poll's margin of error was not released.
Burg cautioned against the dangers of believing in polls and said he believed he had reached enough Labor members to win.
Burg, who began campaigning for the leadership shortly after Barak was elected head of the party in 1997, has led in the polls since the start of the race, according to the paper.
Most polls show that Ben Eliezer has narrowed the gap, despite his late start.
"After a campaign that has taken the other side three years and me three months, victory will be mine," Ben Eliezer told reporters in his Tel Aviv campaign office.
"I intend to invite Burg to work alongside me. It is important to have him. He is a skilled man with a lot of potential."
He revealed that Barak, who supports his candidacy, told him that he does not see himself returning to politics for seven or eight years.
Ben Eliezer pledged to conduct another vote for party chairman prior to a general election, if party members requested it.
Burg's campaign dismissed the poll as gimmickry. "Everyone can fantasize, but it's not serious," a spokesman said. "It's an attempt to create a virtual reality."
Following Barak's defeat, the party decided, against much internal opposition, to join Sharon's right-leaning coalition government.
After the February vote,the Knesset scrapped the direct election of the country's prime minister and decided to revert to the old system whereby the leader of the party with the most seats in parliament becomes prime minister if he can forge a majority.
The mandate of the current legislature, elected in 1999, expires in November 2003 – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
